Australian GP: Alonso quickest in rain-affected Practice 2

Fernando Alonso finished fastest as rain limited running in second Practice at the Australian Grand Prix.

With clouds gathering at Albert Park, teams headed out early to get some dry running in case the bad weather arrived.

Alonso was among those straight onto soft tyres and posted a 1m18.887s to finish four tenths clear of Charles Leclerc in second.

FP1 pacesetter Max Verstappen was third after opting for medium tyres during the dry spell of the session, ahead of George Russell in fourth on the hard compound.

Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon were fifth and sixth, as Sergio Perez rued traffic on all his flying laps en route to seventh.

Lando Norris was eighth with Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly completing the top 10.

As the rain arrived, most drivers took the opportunity to get the first wet running of the season with the 2023 cars.

Lance Stroll particularly struggled with a few offs at Turn 3, while Mercedes’ weak traction out of slow corners was also apparent.

But with no rain expected for the rest of the weekend, the 30 minutes on intermediates amounted to little more than testing.

The word to summarise Friday then is inconclusive after disruptions in both sessions made for unrepresentative results.

All will become clearer though as the action heats up on qualifying day tomorrow.